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Wednesday, March 5, 2014

21 questions evolutionists can't answer

There is a parody video (at least I certainly hope it's a Poe) on youtube that claims to pose twenty-one questions evolutionists can't answer. This video may or may not be real, but I've certainly heard these seriously asked before. Given that a new study has just found that 25% of Americans don't know that the Earth orbits the Sun, it certainly is sad to see that statistic and these questions being asked.

Since there are 21, I'll try and answer these as briefly as possible...

1) Why are the planets round?

Gravity.

2) Go to the zoo and tell me, why doesn't a chimpanzee give birth to a man?

That's simply not even close to how evolution actually works.

3) Have you ever seen a mountain form?

Whether you can watch a mountain form depends on what you call a mountain. Mountains formed by way of vulcanism would certainly be easier and faster to watch forming. And if you count those underwater, you can watch a mountain form from the seabed (given enough time). Mountains are also made by plate tectonics. This process is much slower, though it can be measured by using sensitive devices. Given enough time, one could watch a mountain form, but one person simply doesn't live long enough.

4)Why doesn't new life show up in a jar of peanut butter?

Well, peanut butter certainly contains plenty of life. There is bacteria, and peanuts themselves are a plant. So peanut butter is 'alive' in some sense. But why no new life? Well, the conditions are nowhere near correct for abiogenesis. And even if they were, the process would be far to gradual for a human to observe in their lifetime.

5) If the big bang started as a singularity... who held up the singularity?

Does there have to be a who? Sure, we don't know what (if anything) was before the big bang, but that doesn't mean we can just plug any old thing into that gap. It could be that the universe is cyclical, and this universe was born from another universes death. Or maybe energy always existed. But you can't just say it was God, because where did God come from. And if something were to have to be infinite, wouldn't it make sense that simple energy would be more likely to always exist, rather than an infinitely complicated god?

6) A painting had a painter... therefore the universe had a maker.

Sorry, it doesn't work that way. Things that have to be made by an outside actor need that actor in order to exist (building/builder). But you can't just assert that the universe was, or needed to be created by someone. Isn't that the whole question? Plus, we see plenty of things that exist without the need for someone making it. You may say that a bridge must be created by someone. But a natural bridge, and even sculptures can be created by erosion. Snowflakes look like art, but no one made them either. There's no question here, just an unfounded assertion.

7) If a monkey gave birth to a man, who would he (or she) mate with?

Again, that's not how evolution works. But assuming this loony suggestion where to occur, the human would mate with a human, and the monkey with a monkey.

8) How can you explain gravity?

Gravity is quite complex, and everything with mass has some. the more mass, that more gravitational force that is present.But what does this question have to do with evolution?

9) If we came from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?

If Americans came from British people, why are there still British people? The thing is, that evolution doesn't say we came from monkeys, but that us and the other apes share a recent (in evolutionary terms) common ancestor.

10) If the world is "millions of years old" why is it only 2008?

Well there BCE (BC) and CE (AD) to consider. It is 2014 CE at the time of my writing this. So there have been 2014 years in the 'common era'. Everything that happened before that, all the way back to the Earth's formation was before the common era (BCE). So why the split? When the church was in control, they placed the split when they thought Jesus was born. BC actually meant, 'before Christ'. Through time calendars have been changed. The church did it, the Romans added months, and other societies made their own as well. But the year being 2014 in no way disproves an old Earth any more than the number 10 disproves -75.

11) If I throw dirt up in the air, what are the odds it will fall into the formation of a living man?

If the Bible were true, that would actually be in the realm of possibility, since it says that man was made from dirt. But in an evolutionary view, that would be a virtual impossibility. Again, what this is saying is not what evolution claims, and should it happen would actually make a case against evolution.

12) Can you see electricity?

Tesla coil, static shock, lightening... need I go on? And even when it can't be seen, it can easilly be detected and measured.

13) Science changes. The book of Genesis is perfect.

Genesis? Perfect? Now that's a good one! It would be far easier to point our what's not wrong with it, than what is. As for science changing... that's the beauty of it. Science is self correcting. When an old idea is disproved it is discarded. When something else is improved with new observations, our knowledge improves. Yes, it was once believed that the Sun orbited the Earth, but science figured out that it was the other way around and discarded the false stance in favor of the evidenced one. Meanwhile, the church waited until 1992 to vindicate and apologize for calling Galileo a heritect and forcing him to recant.

14) The holy Bible is the truth, because the Bible says it's the truth.

Circular argument. One can craft a similar argument about anything. Everything in this blog is true. All squares are round. Ergo, it's true that all squares are round? See, just saying something is true doesn't make it true.

15) Evolution is a religion, and science leads to killing people.

Remind me who the god of evolution is, the church of evolution is, and what the evolution Bible is... Oh that's right, none of those things exist. Religion must not be questioned. Evolution/science welcomes questions. 404: religion of evolution not found.

No, science doesn't kill people. The products of science can though. Just as religious beliefs can lead to killing people. Hell, you can kill someone with a muffin if you try hard enough. So does baking lead to killing people too?

16) Scientists around the world are all jointly involved in a conspiracy against God.

Proof? Also, why would all these scientists who supposedly secretly believe in God, willingly sign up for a one-way ticket to Hell on purpose. What about the Christians who are scientists. Also, what about the evidence and data that is available for anyone to examine for themselves? There is no conspiracy, and the president is not an alien lizard bent of enslaving humanity.

17) Bananas are perfectly designed for the human hand.

Wild bananas

Well, the common banana is. You know, the one mankind selectively breed into the form that we see in our local produce sections. The wild banana, looks nothing like what you find at the store.

18) Millions of years for a monkey to turn into a man? Monkeys don't live that long.

Evolution, not metamorphosis, silly. An individual monkey doesn't itself turn into a human. But an ancient ape-like ancestor can, and did, become human by way of many, many, many subsequent generations coming and going.

19) Why would a man want to have sex with a monkey?

Aren't there laws against that? But you'd probably have to ask him that question. That's right, you know who you are... But seriously, that's not how evolution works. True, sometimes species can interbreed. Dogs are a good example. And sometimes they are close enough to breed, but yield sterile offspring, like when a horse and donkey give birth to a mule. But more often than not the mating that drive evolution is within a species. The smaller genetic differences add up over time as well as being acted on by natural selection.

20) Archeologists always remove the human remains first when they find a dinosaur so they can continue the LIE.

Proof? I've been waiting to say this, but this is obviously meant to be a Poe. But even if this was a serious claim, it doesn't stand up. Any archeologist that found a human skeleton with a dinosaur's would be instantly famous and rich beyond their wildest dreams. What's the incentive to turn that down?

21) Can you speak monkey? Didn't think so...

Duh, Tarzan! But seriously, monkeys can be taught to communicate with us though. Not to mention those that study monkeys can glean quite a bit from their calls and body language.

Okay, so this list was likely made to be a joke. But the sad thing is, I've heard people seriously use some of these. Please wake up America!

About Me

Greetings!
This blog is a vehicle for response and opinion to the opinions and ideas I hear expressed in my everyday life, as well as in the media and online. By trade, I am a graphic designer. However, I will be writing about topical issues, theology, politics, and anything else that tugs at my interest. Personally, I am an atheist, am interested in science, as well as the arts. Politically, I'm a bit of a mixed bag. I don't like to append labels lightly. But if forced to, I'd most closely fit under the banner of 'progressive'. Hopefully that gives a bit of a flavor as to the topics I will be discussing here.
Cheers!
-BH